


The Swamp Interlude

by sparklight



Series: The Suns of Tatooine [2]
Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 23:13:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5109077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparklight/pseuds/sparklight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After leaving the Sith complex, the moon and the <em>Executor</em> behind thanks to being let go, Luke takes a detour to Dagobah before going back to the Alliance fleet to debrief about the mess of a mission that got him stuck on the moon in the first case. It goes... so-so.</p><p>(A variation of the RotJ Dagobah scene happening months earlier than in canon, for reasons.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Swamp Interlude

_Confront Vader first, you must. Then, a Jedi you will be._

Standing just outside Yoda's now-empty hut, breathing in muggy, decay-smothered air, Luke wondered what he thought he'd accomplish with this. He'd wanted to hear _someone_ , other than himself or Vader, confirm - _acknowledge_ \- that Darth Vader was his father. Not because he didn't already know, hadn't already accepted it, but because it seemed more real now.

For better or for worse.

Now though, what was he left with? No more training than he'd had after he left Dagobah the first time (not counting what happened on the Sith moon), Yoda having faded into the Force and _still_ insisting he needed to kill his father. 

The only thing that was a bright point was that Yoda had mentioned he had a sister. And while Yoda had ignored his question of who it was, _where_ she was, he'd known the moment he asked those questions.

It made him feel better, at least, but... Dragging a hand through his hair and then scrubbing his face, Luke sighed. He wasn't - exactly - grieving the loss of Yoda, but the little Jedi Master had been eccentric, tough and definitely a good teacher. Even if he didn't agree with all he'd said or tried to teach. And now he was... not here. To be honest, Luke was a little shocked how fast Yoda had faded; only two months later, and he'd looked like he'd aged _years_ and seemed all too relieved to be able to let go.

Feeling a little lost, Luke slowly started to walk back to the X-wing. He'd need to return to base, give a... somewhat edited account of what happened on the moon. Omit the whole... _thing_ with his father and then... Go back to normal? He wanted something more specific, like what he'd felt when leaving the moon. He'd thought going to Dagobah would be the first step to that.

Instead, he was left wondering.

There was _still_ the hovering sense of purpose at the back of his mind, the Force reassuring when he reached out, but Luke was well-aware you couldn't just sit around an assume things would end up all right - you had to do something about it, too. Tilting his head back to peer up into the green gloom above, Luke smiled as he thought of Leia.

His _sister_.

With Leia came the thought of Han... maybe that was where he (they) should start? He did need a lightsaber, of course, which would probably help in rescuing Han, but either way... 

Glancing down to his belt where the empty holster was (he completely forgot about going searching for the blaster the pirates had taken before leaving the moon) and the equally empty spot where the lightsaber had hung until two months ago, Luke's first thought wasn't, as he ducked under some moisture-dripping moss of some sort that hung from a branch, of _his_ lightsaber.

Rather his father's current one, and the way it'd fit, rather awkwardly, in his hand while fighting with it...

Father.

Who he was supposed to...

Frowning, Luke sat down on a fallen log and shook his head.

"It's the only way, Luke." The blue that coalesced into Obi-Wan's form seemed to be drawn from the greens and browns around him, until there was that indistinct, slightly glowing blue shape, who sat down beside Luke in a sweep of incorporeal robes. "Whatever you _think_ you're seeing, Anakin Skywalker is dead." 

Obi-Wan sounded regretful, but the phrasing stabbed through Luke's more contemplative mood. 

Whatever he _thought_ he was seeing? 

Luke straightened up, feeling offended not just for himself but for his father as well - Vader was possessive, yes. Definitely _obsessive_ , too. Had done a lot of terrible things, _undeniably_. But the fact of the matter was, his father had also let him go when he realised it was better for _Luke_ that he do that.

"I don't think so," he said shortly, then half turned to Obi-Wan and frowned, "I can't do it, Ben. I can't kill my own father." Because he couldn't. Even before he'd wanted to accept that Darth Vader was his father, that had been true.

"Then the Emperor has already won," Obi-Wan said slowly, his smudged shoulders drooping slightly. Luke felt another burst of guilt, but shook his head. He refused to think the Emperor had already won just because he wouldn't go through with killing his father.

"He isn't _gone_ , Ben. I _know_ there's good in him!" Leaning forward, Luke wasn't sure what he was trying to do; Ben could neither stop nor really censure him for whatever he chose to do, but despite the lies the Jedi Master had told, he still looked up to him. Wanted him to, if not agree with him, not think he was throwing his effort (life) away. His and many others.

"Even with that being true, Luke, it didn't help your father when he fell, and I don't see how it would help him now. He's lost," Obi-Wan said slowly, looking out over the swamp in the direction of Yoda's dark hut, "more machine than man now, twisted and evil."

That... didn't seem right.

 _At all_.

Flexing his right hand, keenly aware of the gears, servomotors, cabling and delicate wiring within, even if he couldn't _feel it_ , Luke frowned. Almost asked why Ben had lied, but didn't. Something else bubbled up instead, a flicker of a sense of fire lighting dark brown hair, a woman crying his father's name.

... Artoo had said his mother had chased after his father shortly before she died.

"A machine that still loves my mother, Ben. What happened to her?"

Obi-Wan startled, quite literally flickering in and out of view for a moment before his shape settled again and looking decades older, if that was possible.

"Your father also attacked and Force Choked her, Luke."

He'd wondered if something like that had happened. Closing his eyes and carefully relaxing his suddenly tense jaw, Luke couldn't say he was _surprised_. It might also explain some of his father's unwillingness to talk about her, because he'd hurt her.

"... I took her with me after my... confrontation, with Anakin. She gave birth to you and your twin sister and died shortly after. The funeral was made to look as she had died pregnant, to protect you." Obi-Wan spoke slowly, as if he was reluctant to reveal any of this but that Luke's silence had finally spurred him into telling him what he wanted to know.

"You fought?" Luke stared down at his hands where they lay on his thighs, rubbing the cloth of his pants with each of them in turn, noting the differences in sensation - there was a little. Maybe the sensors needed to be adjusted. Obi-Wan was silent for several minutes.

"Someone had to. However, I couldn't kill him."

There was something huge lurking in that innocuous statement, something Luke wanted to ask about, but maybe that could wait. Maybe his father would tell him about _that_ , if he asked. At the moment, however, he was now unable to hold back.

"And yet you wanted _me_ to do it!" surging to his feet, Luke paced, then stopped and faced the force ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi, "you told me Darth Vader betrayed and murdered my father. _Why_ , Ben?"

Luke hoped there was another explanation, another _reason_ than the one he had been able to extract from Yoda's initial reluctance to confirm Vader was his father, and then that he'd apparently not been ready for the burden.

"Your father was seduced by the dark side of the Force. When that happened, the good man that was Anakin Skywalker ceased to be. Only Darth Vader remains. So what I told you was true... from a certain point of view."

"A _certain point of view_?" Restraining himself, Luke only took half a step back (he wanted to leave completely) even as he shook his head. Remembered his own half-desperate, frustrated entreaty to his father that he could be both Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader - mostly because he wanted his father to see that he still hadn't left all that was Anakin behind.

And he didn't mean himself when it came to what his father was this claiming as 'his' from his former life, but then, Vader had never claimed him as anything else but _his_ son. Briefly, he wondered how his father thought around that, what he tried to keep, what he didn't...

"And even if that's true, I _know_ there's still good in him," Luke continued, pushing everything else away, breathing out the frustration and accepting that Obi-Wan clearly wouldn't see things like he did (not many would, he knew, but he'd sort of hoped...). Maybe to protect himself, if nothing else.

He turned, ready to leave, but a light brush against his mind made him pause and turn back around again. Obi-Wan lifted his hands, smiling tiredly at him.

"Be careful of your knowledge of Leia, Luke. She has no training like you do, and should the Emperor find out..."

"He won't." Straightening up, Luke shook his head decisively, balling his right hand into a fist. "He won't get her."

Not that Luke wasn't rather sure Leia would be more than capable of defending herself against the Emperor _should_ he get her. But he was also aware of how close the dark side could be, like the Sith moon had amply demonstrated. Remembered his vision in the cave here on Dagobah, and knew he had to make sure he wouldn't fail her.

"And be careful of _yourself_ , as well, Luke," Obi-Wan said, his voice echoing strangely as he finally faded away. Luke let out his next breath in something of an explosive sigh and turned down the path again. He needed to get back to the Alliance Fleet.


End file.
